I apologise! I dont know where I should put this post! Please forgive me...
I have a little issue regarding transfers of characters, I am currently an adult after the last 6 years of playing, I have grown up... and so have all my friends who i still play with today, problem is... they lied about their ages when they signed up so open chat was handed to them... I for one, didnt. I am stuck in text chat forever. I am about to purchase 2 years worth of membership for my alternate account who has open chat, I explained to the support I am wanting a transfer to enjoy the feature with my beloved friends for years, they gave me this reply:
"Hello,
We do not perform character transfers for the purpose of circumventing the Federal COPPA regulations.
This is kingsIsles's policy and is in line with COPPA requirements & intent - we will not bend our policy or federal law to appease a player's wants, nor will we make an exception just for you.
We trust, as an adult, you understand our position. Let us know if you have other questions or concernes.
Regards, KingsIsle support"
Do we not age on the game? Both my main and alt accounts are 6 years old.... then they sent this...
"Hello,
We do not perform transfers between usernames with different levels of chat privelages.
Reguards, KingsIsle support"
what I'd like to know is, did anyone else have this issue transferring? Did anyone get the transfer for this reason? Both my main and alt accounts are 6 years old, one has open and one doesn't. My 110 death wizard is collecting dust!
Is one account having open chat and one having text chat one of the security checks? I haven't read that anywhere though... I'd appreciate any feedback again, I am sorry if I posted this in the wrong area, for the future, direct me where to post this stuff, I appreciate any replies! Thanks for reading!
My daughter has been playing since she was 13. She's 20 now. The account she made 7 years ago was made with her actual age, and KI won't change the chat for that account. She offered to send KI a copy of her driver's license to prove her age, but they still told her no.
It's sad because she felt she had to walk away from 6 fully maxed wizards just so she could talk without the filters.
The filters which are largely useless, as anyone who's played this game for more than 10 minutes realizes they've been worked around by the player base for ages.
Your points are valid but mistakenly directed at KI instead of COPPA. It doesn't matter whether KI agrees with COPPA regulations, they have to comply or potentially face huge fines.
In all honesty COPPA is a big fat failure of legislation IMO. It's ineffective, controversial and potentially unconstitutional. It is well over-due being challenged...Mark Zuckerberg has previously said challenging COPPA is a fight he will take on at some point...get to it Mark!
I do understand COPPA, in that case open chat should be completely removed... there are kids with it and its not really fair if actual adults now cannot get it, i dont even play on my 110 anymore, yet they probably still wouldnt transfer.. there are people who got to transfer with different privileges on each account...
I do understand COPPA, in that case open chat should be completely removed... there are kids with it and its not really fair if actual adults now cannot get it, i dont even play on my 110 anymore, yet they probably still wouldnt transfer.. there are people who got to transfer with different privileges on each account...
I understand your frustration and I understand that it isn't 'fair' but I don't think adding further restrictions is the solution. I actually believe the solution is the complete opposite. The solution is removing the restrictions of COPPA being used against minors and companies catering for minors.
We have to recognise that KI is as much a victim of COPPA as any player. They can't opt out of COPPA restrictions and have no choice but to comply. The USP (Unique Selling Point) of their product is that it is an MMO suitable for children. They would crush their USP if they ban under 13's...which is what all social media has done to avoid the costs associated with compliance with COPPA.
Social media hasn't banned under 13's because it is unsafe or unsuitable; they're banned because of COPPA. The cost of compliance is high and fines for non-compliance (even when it is innocent or in the customer's interest) are outrageously steep ($40,000 per breach).
It is ridiculous to me that KI can not store the personal data of half their customers. Storing the age so customers can access appropriate services (eg chat features) is in the customer's interest. KI having access to their customer's age would be massively helpful for improving their product, marketing and services...also in the customer's interest.
Far from wanting more restrictions we should be demanding more freedom...for children, customers, companies and parents! This should be directed at COPPA not KI. I absolutely believe KI should have full control over their business and how it is run. As a customer and parent I have no doubt they'd make excellent decisions. Scrapping COPPA is long over-due!
Well, I have read countless posts of people who have made accounts with text chat and have been offered a transfer? I should meet all requirements, I’ve read nowhere it says you cannot do a transfer because of chat options,I just want to be able to say acronyms for stuff like my friends do and see it (crit, dps, aoe). I have a younger sister I keep a close eye on when she plays, she is actually bothering me to play as we speak lol, she has none of my account information but daily she asks to play on my “high level” and I say no, I’d feel a lot safer if She were moved over, while I give my sisters account canned chat. I trust her language but she is too young to speak to others in my eyes, it would be all around easier. I Let her play a level 20 I helped her with, but she would try to sneak on my high level, she’s a good kid but I am afraid she will delete something I worked hard for, I made an alternate account when I was younger with open chat for when I grew older, with the idea of “starting over” but I did, and I really would love my other on my account as well. No, I’ve never transferred before if anyone is wondering... thanks for any replies.
Also I understand they can deny you for No reason.
Nah, I dont mean to sound rude or anything though. I think open chat is a good opportunity for players, well, those who lied about their ages... either way, I just wanted to know if anyone has had a transfer because they are now an adult, i read a few people who did. Just wondering if any of those players would share their experience with me.
If you have the master password for the account then you can change the chat settings in there. It’s under one of the tabs. However if you don’t have the password or can’t get it your out of luck.
Nah, I dont mean to sound rude or anything though. I think open chat is a good opportunity for players, well, those who lied about their ages... either way, I just wanted to know if anyone has had a transfer because they are now an adult, i read a few people who did. Just wondering if any of those players would share their experience with me.
Ok let me try one last time...
Any account listed as made by someone under 13 is subject to COPPA regulations. It doesn't matter if they were 6 or 12, the age is not stored and it is illegal to do anything to work out the current age of the account holder.
Any account listed as made by someone over 13 is not subject to COPPA regulations. KI have full authority over any policies they make as a company. They can legally choose to over-ride a policy, they can choose to ignore a policy, they can choose to make an exception to policy...or they can choose to uphold their policy.
The emails KI sent you are specific to your situation regarding circumventing the federal COPPA regulations. They literally cite this in their response to you. You have not included your emails to KI in your post and it is unclear exactly what KI is responding to when they refer to 'different levels of chat privileges'. This could mean any difference in chat privileges or it could be referring to levels of chat privileges covered by different legislation. As the discussion you are having is specific to an account covered by COPPA legislation and an account that is not subject to COPPA regulations, it is perfectly feasible that KI may be referring to legislative differences between the accounts.
I don't know if COPPA prevents KI from moving a wizard from a COPPA protected account to a non-COPPA protected account but even if it does allow it that would be void if it is specifically to circumvent COPPA regulations. You're asking them to play accomplice, taking 100% of the risk with indisputable evidence of their knowing participation in bypassing federal law! I literally can't get my head around how you thought they might say anything other than 'No'.
Bottom line: COPPA needs to have a waiver or clause for situations like Kingsisle. Contact your congress person and ask for change. This issue is not solely restricted to Wizard101/Kingsisle.
